AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine Emergency Medical Services Memorial to honor the state’s 5,700 EMS providers and those who’ve lost their lives is planned near the state capitol complex in Augusta.

A private fundraising campaign for the memorial, which will be near the law enforcement and firefighters’ memorials, was launched on Wednesday.

Organizers say it’ll be unlike any other EMS memorial in the country because it will have an education component, located within glass walls at the site where visitors can learn more about emergency medical services.

EMS providers include dispatchers, first responders, emergency medical technicians and paramedics. EMS officials from across the state attended the unveiling of the artist’s rendering of the new memorial Wednesday.